Coupons have traditionally been printed on paper and distributed to targeted consumers. Manufacturers produce and distribute over $380 billion worth of grocery coupons annually. In 1998, however, only about $3.6 billion worth of coupons were redeemed. Obviously, consumers are receiving coupons that they do not wish to redeem. Research indicates that most supermarket consumers find it very difficult to locate grocery coupons for all of the products that they purchase regularly. Thus, there is a need for a more efficient means for distributing coupons to consumers. If coupons can be more accurately targeted to consumers that are likely to redeem the coupons, then less money will be spent on printing and distributing coupons that are often thrown away.
Various attempts have been made to deliver coupons to a more directly targeted group of consumers. Some companies have made coupons available on the Internet, so that consumers can select coupons for printing and redeeming. However, this approach is only effective for reaching consumers who own a computer with Internet access and are willing to take the time to seek the coupons that they desire. Moreover, this approach is susceptible to fraud, because it is difficult to prevent consumers from printing and redeeming unlimited amounts of coupons for fraudulent purposes. In addition, the end result is still a paper coupon which must be handled and redeemed in the conventional manner, with resultant waste of paper and the burden of coupon sorting resting on the merchant.
Therefore, there is a need for a coupon distribution system that provides widespread coupon distribution, while permitting consumers to choose which coupons they receive.